Gau (territory)

Gau (plural Gaue, Dutch: gouw, Frisian: gea or goa) is a Germanic term for a region within a country, often a former or actual province. It was used in medieval times, when it can be seen as roughly corresponding to an English shire. The administrative use of the term was revived as a subdivision during the period of Nazi Germany in 1933–1945. It still appears today in regional names, such as the Ambergau.

Medieval period

The Germanic word is reflected in Gothic gavi (neuter; genitive gaujis) and early Old High German gewi, gowi (neuter) and in some compound names still -gawi as in Gothic (e.g. Durgawi "Thurgau", Alpagawi "Allgäu"), later gâi, gôi, and after loss of the stem suffix gaw, gao, and with motion to the feminine as gawa besides gowo (from gowio. Old Saxon shows further truncation to gâ, gô. The German word is a gloss of the Latin pagus; hence the Gau is analogous with the pays of feudal France.

Old English, by contrast, has only traces of the word, which was ousted by scire from an early time, in names such as Noxga gā, Ohtga gā and perhaps in gōman, ġēman (yeoman), which would then correspond to the Old High German gaumann (Grimm) although the OED prefers connection of yeoman to young.

Gau

Gau or GAU may refer to:

Places

Military

Schools

Gäu District

Gäu District is one of the ten districts of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland, situated in the centre of the canton. It has a population of 19,960 (as of 31 December 2014). Together with Thal District, it forms the Amtei (electoral district) of Thal-Gäu.

Municipalities

Gäu District contains the following municipalities:

Geography

Gäu has an area, as of 2009, of 62.01 square kilometers (23.94 sq mi). Of this area, 27.74 km² (10.71 sq mi) or 44.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 23.36 km² (9.02 sq mi) or 37.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 10.41 km² (4.02 sq mi) or 16.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.44 km² (0.17 sq mi) or 0.7% is either rivers or lakes and 0.06 km² (15 acres) or 0.1% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 3.1% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 6.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.0%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.5% of the area Out of the forested land, 36.4% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 41.9% is used for growing crops, while 1.2% is used for orchards or vine crops and 1.6% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the district is flowing water.

Gouais blanc

Gouais blanc (French pronunciation: ​[ɡu.ɛ blɑ̃]) or Weißer Heunisch (German pronunciation: [ˈvaɪsɐ ˈhɔʏnɪʃ]) is a white grape variety that is seldom grown today but is important as the ancestor of many traditional French and German grape varieties. The name Gouais derives from the old French adjective ‘gou’, a term of derision befitting its traditional status as the grape of the peasants. Likewise, the German name Weißer Heunisch labels it as one the lesser, Hunnic grapes.

History

Gouais is known to have been widely planted in central and northeastern France in Medieval times. At this time, it was used to produce simple, acidic white wines, and were primarily grown in less good plots that were not suited for the much more highly regarded Pinot noir or Pinot gris. Gouais Blanc was thus the grape of the peasantry rather than of the nobility.

Its history before Medieval times is not known with any certainty, but is the subject of much conjecture, in similarity to many other grape varieties with a long history. Gouais blanc has been proposed as a candidate for the grape given to the Gauls by Marcus Aurelius Probus (Roman Emperor 276–282), who was from Pannonia and who overturned Domitian's decree banning grape growing north of the Alps. Another hypothesis claims it originates specifically in Croatia (or Pannonia), but the Vitis International Variety Catalogue currently lists it as originating from Austria, which should probably be interpreted as "likely to originate somewhere in Central Europe".

Landscape (band)

Landscape was an English Synthpop band, best known for the 1981 hits "Einstein A Go-Go" and "Norman Bates." Formed in London in 1974, the band toured constantly during the mid-to-late-1970s, playing rock, punk, and jazz venues and releasing two instrumental EPs on its own Event Horizon label. The group began experimenting with computer-programmed music and electronic drums in the late 1970s and early 1980s, making records in the emerging genre of synthpop.

Formation

Landscape was composed of Richard James Burgess (vocals, drums), Christopher Heaton (keyboards), Andy Pask (bass), Peter Thoms (trombone, keyboards), and John Walters (keyboards, woodwinds). The band built a following through live performances and touring before releasing their debut album Landscape in 1980. Their next album in 1981, From the Tea-Rooms of Mars...to the Hell-Holes of Uranus led to the Top Five U.K. hit "Einstein A-Go-Go." Their third album in 1982, Manhattan Boogie-Woogie was well received as a dance album. After release of this album, Heaton and Thoms left the band.

Landscape painting

Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in art of landscapes – natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view – with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still form an important part of the work. Sky is almost always included in the view, and weather is often an element of the composition. Detailed landscapes as a distinct subject are not found in all artistic traditions, and develop when there is already a sophisticated tradition of representing other subjects. The two main traditions spring from Western painting and Chinese art, going back well over a thousand years in both cases. The recognition of a spiritual element in landscape art is present from its beginnings in East Asian art, drawing on Daoism and other philosophical traditions, but in the West only becomes explicit with Romanticism.

Landscape (horse)

Landscape (1813–1834) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare who won the classic Oaks Stakes at Epsom Downs Racecourse in 1816. The filly's entire racing career consisted of one run in 1815 followed by three races in the space of thirteen days in June 1816. After winning the Oaks on her second racecourse appearance, she finished first and second in races at Ascot. Already pregnant at the time of her classic success, Landscape was retired from racing after Ascot and produced her first foal in the following spring.

Background

Landscape was a bay mare bred by her owner General John Leveson Gower who had won the Oaks with Maid of Orleans in 1809. Her sire, Rubens was a successful racehorse, who at the time of Landscape's conception was covering mares at Wheeler's Farm near Wokingham in Berkshire at a fee of 15 guineas. He sired two other classic winning fillies in Pastille, who won the 2000 Guineas and Oaks in 1816 and Whizgig, who won the 1000 Guineas in the same year. Rubens was champion sire in 1815, 1821 and 1822. Landscape's dam Housemaid (also known as Iris) produced several other good winners including Raphael, who finished second to Whisker in the 1815 Epsom Derby and Rainbow, who became a successful stallion in France.